


Prelude

by Erandri



Category: Schitt's Creek
Genre: Boys In Love, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, The Hike
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-02
Updated: 2019-04-02
Packaged: 2020-01-01 06:17:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18330308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erandri/pseuds/Erandri
Summary: “Okay, it’s just that ever since his parents came to town things with Patrick have gotten like- a lot more serious. And we’ve been having these talks lately about the future, and I am just wondering if like, today is the day?”“The day?”“Yeah, you know. Today. The romantic getaway. This could be it. So if you know something, as my sister you’re obligated to tell me,” he tells her, “like, right now before Patrick comes back.”





	Prelude

**Author's Note:**

> So apparently I write for Schitt's Creek now!
> 
> After seeing the promo for The Hike I am 100% convinced that we're going to get a proposal, and I had to get my prediction for how it's going to go up before the episode aired. Not beta'd so any mistakes are mine.

David wakes to the feeling of lips pressing a soft kiss to his bare arm. He smiles into his pillow, humming in pleasure when Patrick places another kiss high on his shoulder before resting his chin there. “Good morning,” Patrick greets him, his voice low and sultry the way it gets when he’s just woken up.

“Good morning,” David says back, he can feel Patrick's thumb tracing small circles against his stomach. Gently, he turns into Patrick and kisses him. Neither of them has brushed their teeth yet and he feels like he should apologize, rush off to the bathroom and at least use some mouthwash. A couple of months ago he would have done exactly that, but instead of breaking the moment, he sinks into it. He’s finding that he’s doing a lot of things now that he never would have imagined before Patrick, and he’s rewarded by Patrick shifting to settle better on top of him. David feels a leg slide its way between his and presses against it eagerly as Patrick kisses him breathless. Just when he slides a hand underneath the hem of Patrick's t-shirt to encourage them along, Patrick pulls away.

“Wha-?” David asks, his kiss-addled mind not comprehending why his arms are suddenly empty of his boyfriend.

“Come on, get up,” Patrick says from the other side of the bed, too far away and entirely too eager to be talking about leaving the bedroom after a kiss like that. He lies there stunned for a second as he watches Patrick pull his shirt back down.

“Or… seeing as we don’t have to open the store for another couple of hours,” he entices, leaning across the bed so that he can tease a hand up Patricks back, but Patrick stands and is out of reach before David can touch him.

“Actually,” Patrick says, coming around the bed so that he can lean over him, “I thought that we could take today off and do something just the two of us. Get outside for a bit.”

“Well, we can do something just the two of us without having to get out of bed,” David tries again, sinking back into his pillow and running his fingers up Patrick's arms to try and convince him to come back to bed.

Patrick smiles and leans closer, and David knows that he almost has him. He leans up to meet Patrick halfway, intending to kiss any other thoughts of leaving the apartment right out of his head, but Patrick pulls away just before their lips meet.

“Come on,” Patrick tells him, patting his thigh encouragingly and heading towards the bathroom, “If you hurry I might leave you some hot water,” he says just before he disappears, leaving the door open in a clear invitation. David groans, pulling the covers over his head, wondering how he ever fell in love with a morning person. When he hears the shower turn on he groans again, but flips the covers down and gets out of bed. He’s got his shirt off before he gets to the couch.

\---

Since Patrick got his own place they’ve been trying to eat in more often, not only to save a bit of money but also because the cafe only has so many appealing options, but they’ve made a habit of going out for Sunday brunch together. “So you’re totally okay with just closing the store on a Sunday?” He asks, watching Patrick take a bite of his toast, “Sunday is our third most profitable day of the week.”

“You read my profitability spreadsheet?” Patrick asks him, that adorable surprised smile lighting up his face, and he sheepishly ducks his head.

“Well, I- I skimmed it. It was a lot of numbers... and percentages... and I didn’t get most of it, but the graphs were very helpful.”

He looks up from his plate when Patrick takes his hand and squeezes it. “I love you,” he says, and he feels himself blushing. It’s stupid, they’ve said they love each other a thousand times already, but he still gets a thrill to hear those words fall so easily from Patrick's lips.

“I love you, too,” he says dreamily, falling into Patrick's gaze.

“Besides, we won’t be closing the store,” Patrick tells him, and David can hear by the tone of his voice that there’s more, “I asked Alexis to help out.”

“I’m sorry, you asked Alexis to watch our store?” he asks, pulling his hand out of Patrick's grip to gesticulate better, “You do remember what happened the last time she was left in charge, don’t you? She had to accept _one_ package and instead, she damaged several of our best selling lotions, _broke_ our _brand new_ sink, and didn’t even get the package she was supposed to sign for!”

“In fairness, she only actually damaged one bottle of lotion,” Patrick starts but cuts himself off when David shoots him a look because that is so not the point. “Okay, those are all valid points, but you said it yourself. Sunday is our third most profitable day and we really can’t afford to lose the sales.”

David would beg to differ. Considering the price tag on the repairs to the bathroom, they may actually come out ahead by _not_ opening the store today.

“ _Fine_ ,” he eventually caves, knowing that even with their reduced hours, Sundays are too lucrative to give up, “but Ted is _not_ allowed inside.”

“I already made them both promise,” Patrick assures him quickly. It’s not very comforting and he makes a mental note to check the security cameras tomorrow. Knowing that he’s won, Patrick puts some money on the table and they leave the cafe. As they walk outside David is surprised to see Alexis already sitting on the shop steps waiting for them.

“Well, aren’t you just an eager beaver,” David greets her once they cross the street.

“Um, well at least I was here on time David. Unlike a certain two someones.” Alexis points a finger between the two of them and David feels the urge to swat it away.

“Okay,” Patrick interrupts before he follows through with the thought, “good morning Alexis,” he greets Alexis as he moves past her to unlock the door. David moves to follow him up the steps only to run into Alexis who has also moved to go inside.

“Oh my god, move,” David tells her.

“No, you move.”

“ _You_ move.”

“David, _you_ move.”

They stare at each other, at an impasse, before they both move for the door, pushing at each other until David finally gets the upper hand and pushes Alexis out of the way far enough to get through the door.

“Wow,” Patrick says when Alexis stumbles in after him. He’s a little embarrassed to be caught acting so immature in front of his boyfriend, but he can see Patrick fighting to contain his smile so he just brushes it off and tries to get them on track.

“So- so what do we need to do?” he asks, trying to feign nonchalance and adjusting his sweater where it’s been twisted.

“Well, why don’t you get the till ready. I need to grab a couple of things from the stockroom.” David nods in agreements and moves behind the counter as Patrick disappears behind the curtain.

“So has Patrick told you where you’re going on this romantic getaway of yours?” Alexis asks him as he counts out the money for the register, leaning over the counter to watch him work.

“No. He refuses to-” David starts and then realizes what Alexis said, “Wait. Romantic getaway? Do you- do you know something about this?” he asks lowering his voice to try and avoid Patrick overhearing them.

“What? No! Of course not. Patrick just said that he wanted to take you out for a romantic day,” she protests but she’s smiling at him, a starry-eyed smile that sets off alarm bells in his head.

“Okay, what do you know?”

“Nothing!” she denies again, but she’s still got that _look_.

“Listen, my boyfriend told me out of the blue this morning that we would be taking the day off to ‘get outside’ on a picnic or something. So if you know something about this I need you to just- just tell me.”

“Oh my god David, can’t you just like, go with the flow for once in your life?”

“I’m sorry, have you _met_ me? When have I ever ‘gone with the flow’?” he asks, throwing up an excessive number of air quotes. Casting a glance behind the curtain to see Patrick totally absorbed in something, he leans against the counter to whisper to Alexis, “Okay, it’s just that ever since his parents came to town things with Patrick have gotten like- a **lot** more serious. And we’ve been having these talks lately about the future, and I am just wondering if like, today is the day?”

“The day?”

“Yeah, you know. Today. The romantic getaway. This could be _it_. So if you know something, as my sister you’re obligated to tell me,” he tells her, “like, right now before Patrick comes back.”

“Mm, I don’t think that’s how it works, David,” she tells him just as Patrick comes back through the curtain behind him. He jumps back up, pretending that they were just having a totally normal conversation and not act like he was just prying his sister for information if his boyfriend was planning to propose to him.

“Ready to go?” Patrick asks, seemingly none the wiser. David spots two full backpacks in his other hand and wonders if maybe somewhere in them is a ring box meant for him.

“Yeah, yeah mm-hm,” he says, nodding his head.

“You all set here?” Patrick asks Alexis, and she assures them that today will go smoothly. She leans against the counter to wave them goodbye and as Patrick goes out the door he turns back around. _Tell me_ he mouths to her, but Alexis just wiggles her fingers at him and sends him off with an overly chipper “Byeee!”

\---

They spend the car ride in silence, one of his playlist crooning softly in the background as they head out of town. A litany of possibilities of where they could be going run through his mind and between the suspense of not knowing what they’re doing and the possibility of Patrick actually proposing to him today he's nearly vibrating out of his skin with nerves.

Surprisingly, it’s not the thought of marrying Patrick that has him on the edge of a panic attack. Before they moved to Schitt's Creek the mere idea of someone proposing to him would have sent him into a spiral. It would have felt like a punishment. Now, the prospect of spending the rest of his life with the man sitting beside him, of the two of them getting to grow old together, sends a warm feeling through him. It’s a nice feeling.

More than nice, it’s something that he actually wants now. Like, he may have a few websites with wedding ideas saved on his phone under false names.

Sooner than he expected, Patrick pulls the car off of the road and parks in a little gravel lot. They’re barely twenty minutes out of Schitt's Creek and David had expected their romantic getaway to be somewhere a little more… romantic.

“We’re here!” Patrick says, turning the car off and getting out. David looks around them again like maybe this time there’ll be a cute little park or a lake or something, but there’s only a path leading past a large trail sign and extending ominously into the woods beyond.

“So this is- this is...what are we doing here?” he asks once he's out of the car. Patrick is standing by the trunk, adjusting some things on the two backpacks that he grabbed from the shop.

“We’re going on a hike, David,” Patrick says, a little facetious for his liking. Patrick shoulders the red backpack and holds out the green one, which he takes gingerly. It doesn’t go with his look, and it’s something that he would never even consider wearing normally, but he puts it on anyway.

“Okay, I thought that we were going on a picnic.”

“Oh, I don’t think I said that.”

Patrick walks past him while he’s still struggling to get the bag strap untwisted and David is forced to run to catch up to him. Honestly, the things that he does for love.

He had not been prepared to go on a hike today. He had dressed for a picnic in a nice shaded meadow, maybe somewhere with a babbling brook running through it. He had not been ready for actual wilderness. A quick look down at Patricks hiking boots tells him that maybe he should have asked for a dress code for this little getaway of theirs. Already he can feel the rocks in the path digging into the soles of his converse.

“Don’t worry David, it’s an easy hike. Only a couple miles long.”

“A couple of _miles_!”

“I’ve hiked here before, the trail is very well kept. It’ll be just like walking through town,” Patrick tells him, squeezing his hand encouragingly as they get off the paved entrance and start onto a dirt path.

From the little bit he can see extending ahead of them the trail does look very well kept, but still. _This_ is where Patrick wants to propose to him? In the middle of the wilderness? He looks around at the trees, and the sky, and the squirrel staring at him from a tree branch and decides that if this is where Patrick decided he wanted to propose then he will accept that. Just because this is literally the last place he would have chosen doesn’t mean he’s going to let it ruin their moment.

“You okay there David?” Patrick asks him a couple of minutes into the hike, turning and walking backward so that they can talk face to face without breaking stride. He won’t say it but dressed like this in his hoodie and mountain boots, so at peace in the middle of nowhere, David thinks that he’s falling a little bit more in love with Patrick. If that’s even possible.

It’s just that he’s never really seen this side of Patrick before. Patricks told him stories about going camping, and the summer before college where he and his friends did a cross country road trip to hike the national parks. There was even the scene with the mountaineering shoes that led to him calling Patrick his boyfriend for the first time, but hearing Patrick's stories and seeing him in action are two entirely different things.

“David?” Patrick asks and he realizes that he’s been so caught up admiring him that he never answered the question.

“What? Yeah, I’m fine,” he finally says.

“You sure? It’s just that you’re sighing an awful lot and we’ve barely even started.”

“Well, it’s just that this isn’t exactly what I would classify as a romantic day out,” he says as gently as he can. By the way, Patrick winces he has a feeling it didn’t come out that gentle, but maybe if he drops enough hints Patrick will hold off on proposing until they’re somewhere more appropriately themed.

“You said you wanted to get outside more,” Patrick turns back around and David feels bad.

“Yeah, but I meant that like, we should go to the beach, or have a garden party. This is _advanced_ outdoorsy… ness,” he explains because he does want to do more things outside their routine with Patrick but if they’re going to be getting sweaty and tired like this he much prefers other methods of activity.

“Advanced outdooryness,” Patrick repeats like he’s turning the phrase around in his mind, “Well I think that you can handle a walk in the woods for one afternoon. It’ll be good for you. You might even be surprised by how much you like it,” he finishes pointedly.

David stares at the back of Patrick's head, trying to determine if Patrick just hinted that he’ll be proposing or if he just really wants David to enjoy hiking with him. They continue in silence for what feels like hours- a quick glance down at his phone tells him that it’s actually about fifteen minutes- before David speaks up again.

“So, is this all it’s going to be? Just a lot of trees?” he’s trying not to sound uninterested, but if all they’re going to see is trees on this hike then they could have just gone behind Patrick's apartment and stared at the trees there for an hour.

“You know David, a lot of people come here just so that they can be surrounded by trees.”

Patricks getting annoyed with him now, he can hear it in the tone of his voice, but he can’t stop himself from saying, “I just wonder why we couldn’t have found a meadow somewhere, you know, with some men on horseback trotting in the background.”

“Okay David, you wanna turn around?” Patrick snaps, turning to face him and stopping them both dead in their tracks.

“Well! The app that’s supposed to be counting my steps isn’t working so I honestly don’t know,” he huffs, waving his phone with the broken app on the screen for emphasis.

“Fine, let’s just go,” Patrick walks past him without looking at him and heads back down the trail.

David sighs, tilting his head back and asking for patience. Patrick planned a romantic surprise for him and he doesn’t want to ruin it by being too haughty.

“Patrick, wait!” he calls, jogging down the trail after his boyfriend. Patrick has put a lot of distance between them already but he does at least slow down when David calls after him. When he’s close enough he reaches out and grabs Patrick's hand, pulling him to a stop.

“I’m sorry, let's finish the hike.”

“I’m not going to make you do something that you don’t want to do David. It was a dumb idea, let's just go back to the car,” Patrick says, trying to walk again but David holds him back. He can see a sadness in Patrick's eyes and whatever he had planned for this day, proposal or not is important to him.

“No. No, it wasn’t a dumb idea. I like that you wanted to do this together, and I _did_ say that I wanted to get outside more. Come on, I want to finish the hike for you. For us.”

He can see Patrick's irritation dissolving with each word and by the time he finishes he knows that he’s got Patrick back. He kisses him quickly, just a peck on the lips, but they both know that it’s another apology. When he pulls away they both head back up the trail together.

“Thank you,” Patrick says, taking his hand and holding it, “I can’t promise men on horseback, but there is a really great view just a little bit further up.”

“Well, I guess not everything can be perfect,” he jokes and when Patrick laughs with him, he knows that they’re okay again.

\---

“Come on, this way,” Patrick says, pulling him off of the main trail and down a little footpath. The trail is narrow and overgrown, they have to duck under several tree branches as they make their way along. There’s a bend in the path up ahead and David can see the trees thinning out, giving him more of a look at the scenery beyond. As they round the bend the trees clear completely and a small opening extends before them, just a few feet wide before there’s a steep drop off. In front of them, the valley stretches out for miles, Elmdale nestled into the trees at the bottom. If he looks hard enough he can see cars driving down the highway between Elmdale and Elm Valley. It’s actually a very beautiful sight.

When he turns around to tell Patrick that he was right, this is a very romantic spot, his heart races for a moment to see Patrick kneeling down on the ground. He gets himself under control when he sees that Patrick is only taking their lunch out of their bags.

“So… this is actually very beautiful,” David says, sitting down on the ground next to Patrick. He accepts the proffered sandwich and takes a bite, turning back to the scenery. Beside him, Patrick settles in and starts in on his own lunch.

“This was one of the first places that I came to when I moved to Schitt's Creek,” Patrick says sometime later, once they’ve finished their lunch and have cuddled up next to each other as well as they can on the hard ground. “I had finally decided to live honestly with myself, to stop putting up this front of who I was supposed to be, but I was still coming to terms with how exactly to do that,” he continues softly and David wonders if this is it. If Patrick is going to get on one knee in front of him or if he’ll stay where he is, pressed into David’s side where he belongs.

“A little over a month after I moved into Ray’s I was feeling overwhelmed with everything, so I came out here to clear my head. I found this spot and I decided that after almost thirty years of living a lie if I couldn’t be true to myself here- where no one knew me and I had no obligations to anyone- then I wouldn’t be able to do it anywhere. So I decided right here, in this very spot, that I wouldn’t lie anymore.”

David watches Patrick, misty-eyed as he tells him his story. Knowing everything that he does about Patrick past he can’t imagine how difficult it must have been. Not only moving out here but breaking off his engagement to Rachel, leaving his family and his job.

“Then, the next week you walked into Ray’s office and my life was never the same,” Patrick finally looks at him and David lets his tears fall.

“I love you,” he whispers and kisses Patrick fiercely, trying to put as much emotion into it as he can.

When they pull apart David is ready. Ready to say yes and start the rest of their lives together, but Patrick doesn’t move to get on one knee, or procure a ring box from somewhere. He doesn’t say anything, just wraps an arm around David and rests his head on his shoulder to watch the view a little more. For the first time that day, David wonders if he had everything wrong and Patrick only wanted to share this moment with him. Trying not to show his disappointment, because he does love that Patrick opened up to him about this experience, he rests his head on top of Patrick's and sits there with him.

\---

“Ready to head back?” Patrick asks after a long time. David nods and they head hand-in-hand down the trail back towards the car. The walk seems faster this time, maybe because he’s no longer worried if Patrick is going to propose, maybe because he’s _almost_ enjoying the hike now. When they reach the car David hands his backpack to Patrick to put away while he queues up a playlist for the drive back.

They spend the drive back to town in a comfortable silence and David uses the time to regroup. So Patrick didn’t propose, that doesn’t mean that he never will. And if he doesn’t soon then maybe David will take the initiative. He’s seen a couple of rings in his browsing that he things will suit Patrick beautifully.

“Do you mind if we stop at the store quick?” Patrick breaks the calm, David shakes his head.

“That’s fine, I want to make sure Alexis didn’t break anything else,” he complains, now wondering what she could have gotten up to on her own.

“I’m sure everything will be fine,” Patrick assures him.

“I believe it when I see it,” he says derisively. Patrick laughs at him, he’s pretty sure, but he doesn’t comment on it. They’re back within the town limits and will be at the store any second. When Patrick rounds the corner he pulls up to park at the curb and David notices something wrong.

“Hold on, why are the lights off?” he asks, it’s getting late but the store should still be open for another hour, “Did she close early without telling us?”

“Let’s go check it out,” Patrick says, shutting the car off and getting out. Since he’s closer David gets to the door first, finding the sign flipped to CLOSED but the door unlocked. The bell rings when he opens the door but he doesn’t hear any other noise to notify him of someone else in the building. He calls out for Alexis, wondering if maybe Ted stopped by after all, but there’s no answer.

He feels Patrick's hand on his back a second later, guiding him to go further into the store so that Patrick can close the door behind them.

“I can’t believe that she left the store!” he complains, though he can’t really say that it’s a surprise. He takes his sunglasses off, tossing them on the counter and moving to check their stock. He swears, if she’s ruined anything else in his store he’s going to kill her himself.

He’s barely taken another step inside when Patrick flicks the lights on and he stops dead in his tracks. Instead of their overhead lights, strings and strings of fairy lights cast the room into a soft glow.

“What?” he asks the room, looking around for a possible explanation. When nothing reveals itself, he turns to get Patrick's opinion and gasps, covering his mouth with his hands because Patrick is down on one knee in front of him, holding up a black ring box. “Oh my god,” he says unfiltered, already feeling tears forming.

“David,” Patrick starts, taking a deep breath before continuing, “I spent so many years trying to force myself to be someone who I thought that people wanted me to be. I thought that I had the perfect life, but every day felt like a chore to me. So I left it, and I moved out here, and I met you… and I fell in love with you. And now nothing in my life has ever been easier.”

David’s crying now, overwhelmed by his emotions. He spots a stray tear make its way down Patrick's cheek and he wants to reach out and wipe it away for him, but Patrick continues his speech, finally opening the ring box, but David only has eyes for Patrick.

“The moment that I met you, I knew that there was something there. Something that I had never felt before. So I invested in your business so that I could stay close to you, and now we’ve built this life together. All because of this store. So, David Rose, will you-”

“Yes!” David blurts and they both laugh.

“I kind of have to finish the question first David.”

“Right, right, go ahead,” David says, waving his hands to get Patrick to continue.

“David,” Patrick tries again and David is already nodding his head yes, “David, will you marry me?” he finally asks with a smile.

“ _Yes!_ Yes, absolutely.” Patrick leaps up and kisses him and David can feel his smile against his lips. When they part Patrick takes the ring out and slips it only his finger and David has never felt so happy.

The ring is black, and bold, and exactly something that David would have picked out. It feels like it belongs on his finger. They kiss again before he wraps his arms around Patrick, just wanting to hold him close. He feels Patrick bury his face into his neck the way that David not so secretly loves when something occurs to him.

“Hold on, so the whole hike was just a diversion?” he asks, pulling back so that he can look Patrick in the eye.

“Well, I like to think of it as more of a prelude,” Patrick says before David glares at him, “Yeah, pretty much.”

“So you knew that I would suspect something and- despite it being a very beautiful spot and you having a very personal connection with it- took me there even though you know that I hate hiking and just like, the outdoors in general.”

“Yeah,” Patrick agrees, nodding his head and biting back a smile.

“You’re very mean.”

“And yet you just agreed to marry me.” Patrick is completely unable to hide just how happy that sentence makes him, and David wouldn’t want him to.

“Yes, I did,” David agrees softly, smiling and kissing his fiance again.

**Author's Note:**

> I just love these idiots so much.
> 
> I am also currently plotting out a chaptered AU so we'll see if I ever manage to get that posted.


End file.
